Month: July 2016

As indicated in an earlier blog – as part of an FOI request, we asked the BCSC to provide a copy of the original Fraud Fighter video they launched on November 6, 2014 as part of their renewal of their “award winning” campaign against securities fraud.

As you will see, at the time we were very concerned with the overall message sent out to the average investor – the video shows a character “Jean” doing a punch of stupid gymnastic moves in a park and ends with her going to the residence of “David” where it implies she physically attacked him.

Now, before you watch the current version, we want you to watch the version we saw for the first time on Nov 6, 2014 (and that was just obtained via a FOI request) – this was AFTER our hearing but before final oral submissions were made on November 21, 2014 in our matter.

On November 21, 2014, we appeared in front of the Panel at the hearing and before we began our arguments we opened with the following:

WHARRAM: Before I begin today I would like your permission to read a brief statement I’d like to make for the record. Can I do that?

THE CHAIR: I don’t know what you’re about to say, so I don’t really have any comment about that, so carry on.

WHARRAM: In the last week I’ve been approached at my residence by nothing short of what I would call a hoodlum. The hoodlum in no certain terms told me they wanted their friend’s money back that I scammed. I have made a police report of the incident with a Constable Nishin (phonetic) of the Chilliwack RCMP and have been issued a police file number. Recently I had an opportunity to watch what the British Columbia Securities Commission in another glamorous press release calls an entertaining video. In the video the main character, the mother of a victim of fraud, attacks an alleged fraudster with physical violence that I will call a vigilante act. The video is a sick, pathetic attempt to make the people of BC aware of securities fraud. This would be equivalent of the Vancouver Police Homicide Department making an entertaining video promoting family members of murder victims to attack an alleged perpetrator. On November 6, 2014 Brenda Leong, the chair of the British Securities Commission, calls the fraud fighter video fun in a speech that she did at the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s 2014 national conference. I’m concerned if anything happens to my family or myself, I think this video is — and if anyone hasn’t seen it in this room I encourage you to see it, it is actually sick, made me sick to my stomach when I first seen it. I just want to bring it to the panel’s attention, public’s attention. I think it’s important that people like myself are protected out there. Thank you.”

Source: November 21, 2014 Hearing Transcript

By the time we got back to Chilliwack at about 6 PM that night the video had been scrubbed with a message saying a new version would be available shortly. A few days later, the following video was put up on the BCSC’s YouTube page where it remains today. This is a pathetic waste of money…of time…and shows what the people at the BCSC seem to stand for – encouraging people to take the law into their own hands is NEVER warranted. It is hard to believe that in an office full of lawyers not one of them said, “Hey, I think this is a little much, maybe we shouldn’t have characters taking the law into their own hands and attacking others at their home.”

Here is the revised version that was slapped together and re-posted back onto their YouTube channel:

The overall theme at the BCSC is becoming more and more apparent on a daily basis – and it is time that people in this Province wake up to their actions! Call the BCSC and find out who was responsible for producing this horrible video campaign – you have a right to know!

As you see by the link above, we reached out to the Premier of British Columbia, Ms. Christy Clark, in another attempt to see if she would get to bottom of our allegations against the BCSC. We continued to be very courteous towards Ms. Clark and show her respect towards what must be a very difficult time – this despite her office not responding to any attempt we have made to get answers. Answers that are very important to the 250 investors (and their families) that put hard earned dollars in with our companies. As we have stated before, we are NOT deflecting away from some of our actions but there is a BIG difference between the allegations that the BCSC brought forward and reality.

This BC government wants the people of BC to think they are doing a wonderful job – this Tweet from the BC Finance Minister late last week boasts they have successfully manufactured a $730 million dollar surplus for the fiscal 2015/2016 year.

But, unfortunately for this same BC Liberal government, lets look at some other facts released on the same day as Mr. De jong’s rhetoric propaganda hit the street…

TOP 10 FACTS THE BC GOVERNMENT CHOSE NOT TO HIGHLIGHT IN TODAY’S RELEASE OF THE 2015-16 PUBLIC ACCOUNTS.…1. The provincial debt has risen from $45.15 billion in 2011 to $65.29 billion in 2016. But at least the budget is balanced. 🙂

2. The BC government’s contractual obligations have risen from $80.17 billion in 2011 to $101.4 billion in 2016.

3. John Dyble, Premier Christy Clark’s former deputy minister and head of the public service, was bumped out of his spot as the highest-paid public employee in the B.C. government by Craig James, Clerk of the B.C. Legislature.

Dyble who had held the spot for three years in a row took home $323,416 last year, while James earned $331,825 up from the $257,988 he was paid for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2013.

4. The long-term debt for the Transportation Investment Corporation, operators of the Port Mann bridge, has taken a wee jump from $2.029 billion in 2013 to $2.885 billion in 2016. The corporation lost $82.466 million last year.

What the government should really do is put these folk in charge of another major infrastructure project, like the Massey Tunnel replacement. Oh, right, they already have. 🙂

5. On top of their salaries, the provincial cabinet billed an additional $308,405 in capital city living allowances. Premier Christy Clark was the lowest at $1,216 and top spot went to Peter Fassbender at $20,064.

Before jumping to the conclusion that Clark is a bargain, keep in mind she commutes daily to Victoria when the legislature is in session (by air).

6. The cabinet billed $929,486 for travel last year, with three breaking the $70,000 mark: Bill Bennett ($72,682), Mike de Jong ($78,090) and John Rustad ($80,122).

7. Deputy ministers pulled down $8,625,809 in salaries last year and billed $864,417 in travel. In 2011, they earned $8,580,383 and billed $786,168 for travel.

Top three travellers were Wesley H. Shoemaker ($46,043), Athana Mentzelopoulos ($49,878) and David J. Nikolejsin ($55,416).

8. The number of full–time equivalent (FTE) employees at taxpayer–supported Crown corporations and agencies (see thread for list) rose from 4,423 in 2011 to 4,803 in 2016. It had been 3,764 in 2006.

9. The government paid out $3,823,728 in severance settlements last year and $537,721 in grievance settlements.

10. Bob Plecas was paid $76,402 for his report on the Ministry of Children and Family Development last year

Speaking of Facebook, we also came across this page this week – just by glancing over a small portion of the page we think it is safe to say MANY people are fed up with the BC Liberals!! Glad to see many are waking up to some of the horrible decisions being made in this Province and that the propaganda they are trying to spew (surplus, great economy, etc.) are being exposed!

We understand running a Province like BC is a monumental task and that Ms. Clark is more than likely pulled daily into many different directions. However, the facts of the matter are we have hundreds of former investors in our company that are now forced to sit on the sidelines because the BCSC came to the table with an allegation that was factually inaccurate. They have not addressed our allegation that Staff at the BCSC manipulated evidence to prove their case and they did not even look at our Settlement Agreement (see other postings in this blog) that would have seen these same investors participate in a valid real estate project WITHOUT the involvement of WKL, FCC, DCF or myself personally.

This is NOT acceptable by ANY public servant! Time to WAKE UP, Christy!

Because we were NOT getting replies to our letters from BCSC Chair Brenda Leong, Premier Christy Clark or Finance Minister Michael De jong’s offices – we decided to write to the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. John Horgan) hoping that he would have the courage to get the answers we were looking for. Horgan is the leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party and an MLA for the constituency of Juan de Fuca.

We thought as Leader of the Opposition, he would be more than willing to assist in getting us answers from the BC Liberal Party – after all, is this not one of the roles the Leader of the Opposition would be in charge of? Our letter can be found here:

But, unfortunately, Horgan looks like he would rather keep his “head in the sand” and not get involved in representing the people of BC in matters they incur with the BC Liberals and the BCSC. I do know he has received the 3 emails I have sent to him as we do receive Auto Replies to our emails indicating they have received our emails:

Looking at his Facebook page, we can see that since June 27, 2016 (the last 2 weeks) he has shown public support for:

First Nations

The Pride Movement / Transgender Rights

BC Housing Prices

The Muslim Community

Supported the Williams Lake Stampede Parade

Why is there no support for the hundreds of people affected by the Staff at the BCSC not doing their jobs properly? Why not even a simple reply telling us you would look into it?

Is Mr. Horgan just another “all talk politician with no bite?” We are beginning to think so. After looking at Alberta’s recent crash (blamed by most as the fault of Premier Notley) remind me again why any one would vote NDP in the upcoming election?

On July 7, 2016, we received an email addressed to BC’s Finance Minister – the Hon. Michael De jong. The email was written by the former Director (Peter Harris) of U-Go Brands – a company that has had issues with the BCSC for the past 2-3 years.

Finance Minister Michael De jong

Source: Apnaroots.com

It is very apparent that Mr. Harris just wants to have a conversation with BCSC Chair Brenda Leong to discuss the issues surrounding his treatment from the Staff at the BCSC. He has sent dozens of emails, has tried to call her, has filed formal charges with the RCMP, and has tried to get politicians (the Hon. Christy Clark, Mr. De jong, and even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) to hear his voice. But to no avail!

Her ignoring him has led to frustration which has seemed to boil over with his July 7 email to BC Finance Minister.

After reading Mr. Harris’s scathing email, we decided to write an email to Brenda Leong – after all, it appears all the issues people are currently having with the BCSC revolve around her decision to not respond to people that are looking for answers from her regarding the actions of her Staff. While Mr. Harris emails are of a different tone and demeanor than ours, the message is still the same – WE ALL JUST WANT ANSWERS! We feel our emails have been polite, candid, and to the point but to date, she has failed miserably to do this portion of her job.

Mr. Harris’s email is found here – along with my email to the same parties that Mr. Harris CC’d his email to:

In a recent article in Canada’s national newspaper, the Globe and Mail, they candidly discuss self-regulation (and the problems incurred) with such agencies in Canada – this would include the BCSC.

We will cut and paste of portion of the article and highlight some very important sections. The article states inter alia…

“The Real Estate Services Act gave the Real Estate Council the mandate to “uphold and protect the public interest in relation to the conduct and integrity of its licensees.” But the real estate profession is not the only profession that was given the right to self-regulate its members.

In B.C. alone, foresters, lawyers, architects, land surveyors, engineers, social workers, chiropractors, dentists, nurses, opticians, optometrists, physical therapists, doctors, psychologists, veterinarians, notaries and other professions have governing bodies established by legislation that are required to license their members, regulate their professions and exercise their powers in the public interest, rather than in the specific interest of their members.

But what is the public interest? In short, it’s putting the interest of the public ahead of the specific interest of the people and the profession being regulated. By virtue of the practices described in the independent report on B.C.’s real estate industry, the public interest was not being protected by the council, despite the group’s legal obligation to do so. The government rightly acted to restore public confidence in an industry where there was a loss of public trust.

“The real estate sector has had 10 years to get it right on self-regulation and they haven’t,” Ms. Clark said. “The point of regulation is to protect people, to protect consumers.”

This action may be a shot across the bow for other regulatory bodies in Canada that are charged with the licensing and regulation of their professions, as well as disciplining their members when there is misconduct. Every self-regulated profession needs to keep in mind that the public interest must be given paramount attention. Otherwise, they risk the same fate as the Real Estate Council of B.C.” -END OF ARTICLE-

We find Christy Clark’s comments very profound (highlighted above) – we wonder if we can hold her to these words – “THE POINT OF REGULATION IS TO PROTECT PEOPLE, TO PROTECT CONSUMERS”.

Today we received an emailed Press Release from Mr. Brent Johnson (“Johnson”) – he is the President and CEO of Mountainstar Gold Inc. and has had MANY issues with the BCSC as well. We have written previously in this blog with some of the details on their matter.

The email touches on a very important “win” they have incurred after some 5 years of litigation. This new decision by a Chilean court overrules all past decisions and as Johnson states, “…ends corrupt behavior of the bureaucrats in the Chilean government.”

HERE’S THE KEY WITH RESPECT TO THE CANADIAN CONNECTION

Why this is a huge win here in Canada is because lawyers in Chile are now indicating they WILL be calling any and all witnesses, including many Staff at….you guessed it….the infamous BRITISH COLUMBIA SECURITIES COMMISSION.

Johnson indicates Romolo Di Fonzo (Lead Investigator at the BCSC) and Shawn McColm (Senior Compliance Counsel at the BCSC) are up first and will have their subpoenas shortly – forcing them to appear in Chile to answer many hard questions regarding their actions. He then promises “…about six more (staff) from the BCSC which include Brenda Leong, the Chair of the Commission” and other VERY high profile Canadians will then be subpoenaed to appear in front of the same court.

Does this explain why Paul Bourque (the former Executive Director of the BCSC who took a job in Ontario) and Teresa Mitchell-Banks (former Director of Enforcement at the BCSC whom was fired and seems to have dropped of the face of the earth), among others, have all left the BCSC? Who knows – there seems to be so many secrets down on Georgia Street.

This has ALL the makings of finally shaking up the perceived issues at BCSC – if the allegations from Mountainstar are proven in a Chilean Court the BCSC will be rocked to their foundation. And when they fall, inquiries will surely be launched into other matters – including our allegation that Staff at the BCSC manipulated evidence in their written submissions.

Staff are ONLY allowed to hide behind the BC Securities Act (immunity from prosecution) IF they act in good faith while completing their job assignments. Manipulating evidence in an attempt to make a defendant look guilty is CERTAINLY not acting in good faith!

Well….Mr. Fagbamiye, are we ever going to go out for that beer so you can tell me why you did it??? I will even let you buy on your BCSC expense account!

What happens when you complain to the Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (“OIPC”) regarding the actions of the BCSC? NOTHING! And what happens when the OIPC office even admits in writing that the BCSC did not respond to the FOI request in the time allowed under the FIPPA Act? NOTHING!

As some of you have probably read earlier in this blog, the FOI Staff at the BCSC has until June 6, 2016 to reply to our request for information. They dated their letter June 7, 2016 and sent it to me on June 8, 2016 – after I had officially complained to the OIPC office via email.

On June 14, 2016, we sent a formal complaint wanting to know what was the penalty for breaching the FIPPA Act in British Columbia. After weeks of not hearing back, we again sent another email (a second request) on July 3, 2016. These emails can be found here:

Today (July 5, 2016) we received an email back from the OIPC office which thankfully confirmed everything we complained about – they even conclude that Staff at the BCSC did not respond in the time allocated of 30 days.

However, as you can see, they conclude their letter by stating,

“With respect to your request that BCSC’s non-compliance be recorded, our letter to you dated June 9, 2016 is our confirmation that BCSC did not meet its statutory obligation to respond within the timeframe required by FIPPA. If BCSC had complied with FIPPA our office would not have written that letter.

In summary, the OIPC is unable to levy any punishment in this matter and no further action will be taken.”

As always – it seems there are always two sets of rules in this Province! Why do they have the FIPPA Act if Staff at the BCSC are able to bend, twist, and outright mismanage its content? When they don’t want to disclose information under a FOI request they sure point to the Act as a reference without delay! Why is it different when we point the finger at them?

Patrick Egan (Director in Investigations) even admits in his letter the OIPC “is unable to levy any punishment in this matter…” and we want to know why? IF YOU DON’T HAVE A REMEDY FOR THOSE THAT BREACH THE FIPPA ACT…MAYBE IT’S TIME YOU DO! Have you ever thought about that?? Maybe it is time for changes….and those that breach the FIPPA Act are held accountable.

It is now unfortunate – the wording in Egan’s letter allows future breaches by government agencies to do so knowing there in NOTHING the OIPC office can (or will) do about it! What a shame!

As time goes by we are learning so much about the regime in this Province. No reply from Christie Clark’s office, no reply from the FIPPA office with respect to our questions regarding the tardiness of the reply from the BCSC. We did get your typical “there is nothing we can do” letter from Finance Minister Michael De jong’s office which is exactly what we expected! No one is accountable in this Province. We hope people remember this at the time of the next election.

On June 14, 2016, we sent the following letter to the Intake Office (Ms Alison LeDuc) at the FIPPA Office in Victoria, BC. 18 days later, we still have no answers to our questions – let alone even a reply telling us to take a hike! As you can see, our letter is non-aggressive in nature and we have tried to be very polite.

Why are they refusing to reply? Are they protecting fellow government workers at the BCSC? We will keep writing them letters until we have answers! We will go above their heads and get someone who will answer the questions. We will find the truth! We are NOT going away!

IT’S ABOUT TIME YOU PEOPLE WAKE UP AND START DOING THE JOBS YOU WERE ELECTED TO DO!!